TOWN OF HAMBURG
Owners of Hamburg patio homes facing need to compromise
Patio home owners in a Lake View subdivision are mulling a compromise on new houses that they hope will preserve their patio home lifestyle.
Nine families had been expecting that the remaining 34 lots at Tree Haven Patio Homes on Eckhardt Road off Lake Shore Road would be developed with similar one-and 1z-story houses.
But two months ago, the developers, Eddy & Lewin Homes, met with them to tell them they were selling the remaining property to Ryan Homes, which would develop the remaining lots.
“I can understand it was a shock to them, it was a surprise,” said owner and vice president Tom Lewin.
He said that at the same meeting he also told them he would like to deepen the lots by taking 15 feet to 30 feet off the conservation easement it had given the town. Lewin said the company would have graded and seeded the extensions to existing lots and given the property to the owners.
But residents were concerned the reason Eddy & Lewin wanted to expand the lots was so that larger, two-story homes could be built on them.
“He’s changed the entire lifestyle of what this community is,” said patio home owner Michael Maher.
He said the subdivision was marketed as a good place for those who are downsizing or retiring, and people who travel a lot. It is a private road with no sidewalks, he said.
“Our fear is Ryan will come in here and build two-story colonials and appeal to first-time home buyers,” Maher said. “We don’t want to leave. We like the whole concept. We have no complaints about the home.”
The existing homes are two bedrooms. Lewin said the new homes could be two, three or four bedrooms. He said patio homes can come in many forms, and he is trying to get houses built.
“Ryan is an excellent marketer. We are in a very tough economy now. For economic reasons, it had to happen now,” he said, adding that sales are needed to keep the homeowners association viable, and Ryan can produce those sales.
The homeowners association collects monthly dues and pays for grass cutting, snow removal, water, and garbage pickup. Any shortfall in association funds must be made up by the developer.
Property owners appealed to the Town Board this week. They were looking for a moratorium on the construction of two-story homes in their subdivision, which they did not get. But since so many of them were against changing the conservation easement, the board did not grant the developer’s request to reduce the easement to allow for larger lots.
Supervisor Steven J. Walters said the developer is free to build any style house on the lots, as long as they adhere to town codes regarding height and front, rear and side yard setbacks.
The board suggested the two sides work toward a compromise. Maher said that under a tentative agreement Ryan has agreed not to build two-story homes next to existing patio homes.
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